The present invention relates to a golf bag for containing a plurality of golf clubs according to the preamble of the main claim.
Several problematic aspects occur with today""s golf bags. The clubs contained in the golf bag cannot be secured within the golf bag without additional measures. This makes it troublesome for a player to select a desired club from the many clubs contained in the bag. Due to the loose containment of the golf clubs in a conventional golf bag, the missing of a golf club is generally noticed too late or not at all.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,703 describes an insert for a golf bag which is mountable within a golf bag in proximity to the open top thereof. A base portion may additionally be provided, said base portion being inserted in the bottom of the golf bag. The insert, which is arranged in the upper part, is provided with clips that may retain the club shafts. The base portion is provided with recesses which define seats for the club grips of the golf clubs carried in the bag. Additional inserts may be provided for longitudinally dividing the interior of the golf bag in various compartments, which may be used for separating the golf club woods, irons and the putter. This arrangement enables the player to organize orderly the golf clubs in a golf bag. This however does not solve the problem that there is no rain protection provided.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to indicate a golf bag that allows the golf clubs to always be retained in an orderly fashion and to be extracted easily and without difficulty, that allows for increased weather resistance without loss of operating convenience and that has a holding capacity that is at least comparable to that of conventional golf bags while at the same time allowing for a better use thereof.
The solution of this object is achieved by a golf bag provided with the features of claim 1.
The golf clubs retained in the holding devices are thereby substantially located outside the interior space of the golf bag. Furthermore, self-closing covers are provided for largely covering the golf clubs retained in holding devices on the side which is turned away from the interior space of the bag. Such a self-closing cover may be configured in such a manner that it covers one or several golf clubs retained in holding devices. More specifically, such type self-closing covers permit to cover all of the holding devices arranged on or within the lateral area together with the golf clubs which are possibly retained therein. This is not absolutely necessary though, some holding devices may be realized without cover for retaining often used clubs, such as a putter. The holding devices are configured as clips, fixations, lead-in shoes or the like.
The bag body is given the required shape stability in that the lateral area is provided with an inherent rigidity in a manner similar to that of conventional golf bags. In support thereof, both the cover and the bottom surfaces may also be provided with an inherent rigidity. Alternatively, the bag body may be equipped with a rigidity providing frame which is preferably arranged in the interior of the bag body. A cloth covering having but little inherent rigidity and constituting both the lateral area and the cover and bottom surfaces may be stretched on said frame.
It proved particularly advantageous to provide the lateral area of the bag body with recesses that are oriented substantially in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the bag body. Each of said recesses may be largely, more specifically completely, covered with a self-closing cover. Holding devices for holding at least one club each are arranged in the recesses. Particular advantages derive from a realization of the recesses that permits the clubs retained in the holding devices to be encompassed by the recesses in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the bag body. That is to say that the retained clubs are almost completely embedded in the recesses of the lateral area. More specifically, the realization may be such that the golf bag according to the invention may rest on the lateral area without mechanically loading the golf clubs retained in the recesses. The recesses preferably extend over a substantial portion of the width of the lateral area in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the bag body. Then, the remaining apertures of the recesses are largely covered by self-closing covers. Said covers are preferably configured to protect the clubs from weather, more specifically by making them at least splash-proof.
To further enhance the weather resistance and the transportability of a golf bag in accordance with the present invention, the self-closing covers may be locked by means of weather-proof coatings. Such a coating may be realized in the form of a textile strip with a weatherproof coating which covers a self-closing cover and may be reversibly locked by a zipper fitting. In its closed condition, said coating covers the self-closing cover, and more specifically a sealing lip which may be provided in said cover. This enhances the tightness of the cover on the one hand, on the other hand a golf club, which by chance came out of its holding device, is prevented from falling through the self-closing cover. This represents a decisive advantage in transporting the golf bag.
Advantages in removing the golf clubs from their respective holding devices are realized when the self-closing covers leave an area of a retained club uncovered, said area being dimensioned to facilitate the golfer""s grasp of the club in this area and its removal from the holding device. More specifically, this may be achieved in that the covers leave the clubs uncovered on a length of less than 15 cm, preferably of less than 10 cm, but of more than 5 cm. A grip area or recessed grip cavity, which may more specifically be arranged in proximity to the respective one of the club heads or club grips, is thus obtained.
A holding device retains a club to be fixed on at least one point, preferably on two points though. A holding device is thereby preferably provided with at least one clip for positively fixing a club shaft or a club grip.
Additionally or alternatively, the holding device may be provided with at least one fixation for positively fixing a club head, and more specifically the club faces. Said fixation may also be adapted to the different types of clubs such as woods, irons, putter or individual clubs.
Such a fixation is preferably provided in the area of the cover surface of the bag body for the purpose of receiving the heads of individual clubs. The heads may be suspended in such a fixation so that the corresponding clubs may readily be identified by their head and taken out of their holding devices. In order to enhance user-friendliness, a recessed grip cavity is formed in the fixation. Such a fixation may for example be inserted as a cover surface in an open topped bag body as it is known with conventional golf bags. Such a fixation preferably receives the inward directed heads of retained golf clubs.
Particular advantages with regard to the distribution of load alongside the golf bag in accordance with the invention are realized when neighboring holding devices are designed to hold a club in an upright position in a first holding device while the clubs in the neighboring second holding devices may be held with their head down. This alternating arrangement of the clubs in their holding devices allows for even distribution of load alongside the golf bag and may be particularly advantageous for transporting the bag by car or airplane. It is possible to arrange all of the clubs with their head down or all of the clubs with their head up.
In practical use on the golf course, it may be advantageous to have the retained clubs arranged in another way on the lateral area of the inventive golf bag. An arrangement in which all of the retained clubs are held with the golf club head down more particularly results in a particularly low center of gravity, which may have some advantages for transporting a golf bag in accordance with the present invention on a caddy/trolley. The possibility of varying the arrangement of the clubs between an alternating arrangement and an arrangement with all the clubs held in the same position depending on the purpose they are intended to serve is therefore advantageous.
Generally speaking, a golf bag in accordance with the invention may be realized in a symmetrical design in such a manner that the top portion and the bottom portion of the golf bag are substantially identical. This conformity may relate to the shape of the bag body on the one hand and to the configuration of possible covers for the cover and bottom surfaces on the other hand.
Since the golf clubs have very different lengths ranging from 0.9 to 1.2 m, it may be advantageous to choose for the bag body a shape that provides on at least one location a club holding device provided with the length required for every length of the clubs carried in the bag. Such a bag body may for example be cylindrical in shape, i.e., have a round cross-section. To realize the length distribution described, the cover surface may be positioned at an angle different than 90 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical body. The shape of the bag body thus obtained reminds of a truncated column. This length adjustment may be provided both in the region of the cover surface and in the region of the bottom surface.
In order to improve the transportability of a golf bag according to the invention, apertures opening downward and/or upward may furthermore be provided in the covers, through which the club grips may preferably be passed through so that they may be accessed freely. As a result thereof, the dimensions of a golf bag according to the invention, its length in particular, may be reduced so that the bag may be readily placed in the trunk of a smaller car.
To avoid excess loading of the hinges when opening such a golf bag in accordance with the invention, a stop may be provided for limiting the maximum aperture angle of the hinge and for possibly taking forces of a higher magnitude. A dampener may also be provided.
To increase the usefulness of the golf bag for carrying a plurality of single parts, the interior of the bag body may be divided into several compartments which may more specifically be realized according to a corresponding pattern. More specifically, one half of the interior space may be usable in full length for hanging a jacket or pants, preferably unfolded.
The bag body must not be partitioned in two halves of identical size, an asymmetrical division is also possible and may make sense. In particular cases, it may be appropriate to have the golf bag divided in more than only two compartments.
The golf bag in accordance with the present invention allows for accommodating the golf club taken on the golf course in a fixed arrangement. Thus, the golf clubs cannot come out of order during transporting of the golf bag. In arranging the holding devices for the golf clubs on or within the lateral area of the bag body, the holding devices may in principle be designed in such a manner that a retained golf club needs not be extracted from the golf bag along the full length thereof but may be readily removed from the side. This considerably enhances user convenience. Furthermore, the interior of the bag body remains largely or entirely usable for keeping items. As the golf clubs retained on the lateral area of the bag body are covered by self-closing covers, said retained golf clubs may be perfectly protected from the weather in designing the covers accordingly. In designing the lateral area or the recesses provided on said lateral area and receiving the golf clubs to be retained accordingly, said golf clubs may furthermore be perfectly mechanically protected. More specifically, in shaping the recesses accordingly, the retained clubs may be substantially entirely embedded in the lateral area so that the mechanical load on the retained golf clubs is minimal when the lateral area of the golf bag in accordance with the invention strikes a surface or comes to rest thereon.
Further characteristics and advantages of the golf bag according to the invention will become apparent in the following description of exemplary embodiments that are not limiting the scope of the invention and are explained in more detail with reference to the drawing.